PRAYING IN A SECULARIZED SOCIETY: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF PRAYING PRACTICES AND VARIETIES

Abstract

Social scientific studies from the secular Netherlands has pointed out that religious rituals such as praying are still widely present. This study examines the content of the praying practices of the Dutch and distinguishes varieties of prayer by analyzing answers to open-ended questions of a representative Dutch survey (N=1.008). It is concluded, first, that a majority of the Dutch prays. Second, four varieties of prayer are distinguished: petitionary, religious, meditative, and impulsive prayer. Comparing these varieties with types of prayer found in other empirical studies, it emerges that the petitionary and religious prayer are similar to classical prayers found in other studies from less secularized countries, whereas the meditative and impulsive prayers are fundamentally different from other prayer types and can be considered as examples of a praying practice in a secularized society.

Keywords

• Psychology of religion,Prayer,Secular Society

SEKÜLER BİR TOPLUMDA DUA

Abstract

Seküler Hollanda’da yapılan sosyal bilimsel araştırmalar dua gibi dini ritüellerin hala yaygın bir biçimde mevcut olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Bu çalışma, Hollandalıların dua uygulamalarının içeriğini inceler ve Hollanda’yı temsil eden bir anket araştırmasının (N=1.008) açık uçlu sorularına verilen cevapları analiz ederek dua türlerini ayrıştırır. Araştırmada şu sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır: 1) Hollandalıların çoğu dua etmektedir. 2) Dört tür duadan söz edilebilir: a) niyaz, dini, tefekküri ve güdüsel. Bunlar diğer ampirik çalışmalarda bulunan dua türleriyle karşılaştırıldığında, niyaz ve dini duaların daha az seküler toplumlarda yapılan diğer çalışmalarda rastlanan klasik dualara benzer olduğu ortaya çıkar. Buna karşın tefekküri ve güdüsel dualar ise diğer dua türlerinden esas itibariyle farklı olup, seküler bir toplumda bir dua örneği olarak değerlendirilebilir.

Keywords

• Din Psikolojisi,Seküler Toplum,Dua

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